In 1967 McLuhan published with Quentin Fiore The Medium Is the Massage, a book that attempted to clarify and explain his ideas. The popularity of the book — it was a best-seller — led to a television special on NBC about his theories. By the late 1960s McLuhan was regarded less seriously by academics, but he was still a good source for a provocative phrase that could be used in advertising and popular culture. His influence in the general culture, however, was longer lasting. His ideas legitimized the academic study of popular culture and justified the self-important statements by media executives. But many were convinced that McLuhan was a charlatan. Columbia University professor Jacques Barzun dismissed McLuhan with a pun on a McLuhanism: "The tedium is the massage."

Sources:

"The Hardware Store," Time, 92 (9 August 1968): 48;

Hugh Kenner, "Understanding McLuhan," National Review, 18 (29 November 1966): 1224-1225;

Richard Schickel, "Marshall McLuhan...